Canada: Tories launch new attack against Mulcair, New Democrats

Ottawa
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The Canadian Conservative Party has launched new attacks against Thomas Mulcair and his Official Opposition party, the New Democrats. The website takes a harsh look at the records of the NDP shadow cabinet.

One month ago, it was Bob Rae and his Liberal Party. A month later, it is the newly-elected leader of the New Democratic Party, Thomas Mulcair. Are Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the Tories in election mode three years in advance?

The Conservatives launched a website called mulcairsndp.ca that briefly examines the members of the NDP leader’s recently announced shadow cabinet, which includes former rival Member of Parliament Peggy Nash and House leader Nathan Cullen.

It wants Canadians to “get to know Mr. Mulcair’s NDP shadow cabinet.” What seems like a Halloween-type design for a website, it has a black background with terms such as “anti-development,” “conspiracy theories” and “bigger deficits.” It also has the party’s traditional orange colours for its logo with an ominous font.

“Mr. Mulcair has chosen a team that threatens dangerous economic experiments, job-killing taxes, and reckless spending we simply cannot afford. This team has demonstrated a disturbing willingness to put the interests of a narrow band of activists ahead of the interests of hard-working Canadian families,” the website states.

“Mr. Mulcair’s NDP have blocked reasonable measures to put the rights of victims first, fighting to defend a criminal justice system that privileges the rights of criminals at the public’s expense. They have gone to great lengths to prevent responsible development of Canada’s natural resources, going so far as to travel abroad to criticize their own country.”

Upon entering the webpage, the first person that shows up (due to alphabetical order) is Niki Ashton, Churchill Member of Parliament, who was elected in 2008 and won a wide margin in 2011 against Conservative candidate Wally Daudrich.

Mulcair appointed Ashton as the critic for Women. The website cites Ashton’s vote against the long gun registry in 2009, but upon final vote she decided to support the long gun registry “and did not stand up for her region.”

“She was rewarded for this choice by Mr. Mulcair’s inclusion of her as part of his team,” the Conservatives claim. “He has made it clear that he expects his team to support his efforts to bring the registry back and Ms. Ashton has proven her willingness to put the beliefs of her constituents behind those of activists who support the registry.”

Another New Democrat on the list is Peter Julian, Energy and Natural Resources critic. For years, Julian has opposed various trade deals and supported the United States’ “Buy America” initiative, which he called “a perfectly logical” policy.

“Mr. Julian wants to shut those doors. A Mulcair government with Peter Julian would be one where Canadians have less options as to where they can sell our goods and resources. This will cost Canadian families jobs and prosperity at a time when it is needed most.”

Peggy Nash is now the Finance critic and her past votes, according to the Conservative Party, include opposing tax cuts, the creation of the Tax Free Savings Account (TFSA), lower GST and pension income splitting. The Tories also say that Nash has proposed furthering the nation’s debt and to impose a carbon tax.

“So, Mr. Mulcair chose a Finance Critic who supports higher taxes and higher deficits. It makes you wonder what special interests the NDP wants to pay off,” state the Tories. “And it says a lot about Mr. Mulcair’s judgement. A Mulcair government would be one where Canadian families paid more and saw a less prosperous future.”